Samsung Galaxy Ace 2: 5 alternative smartphones

The Samsung Galaxy Ace 2, otherwise known as the i8160, still remains a very popular smartphone despite a rather hefty price tag. The handset, which is essentially a cut-down, smaller version of the Galaxy S2, costs as little (or as much) as £170 (at Amazon) which is a lot for what you’re getting.

We’ve checked out five potential alternatives, both with Android OS and Windows Phone OS, handsets which we’d consider as better substitutes to the Galaxy Ace 2. Note that those deals are available at the time of writing and may be no longer in stock by the time you read them.

2. While you might have missed the Valentine special on the Nokia Lumia 620 (when it was available for £120), O2 is still the cheapest place where you will be able to buy the most affordable Windows Phone 8 smartphone in the UK. Right now, it costs £150 and comes with a free shell cover. The handset is probably the best value-for-money smartphone on the market as far as hardware is concerned and comes with some cracking software as well ike Nokia Music, Nokia Drive, Nokia City lens and Cinemagraph. Pity though that it is locked on O2 (although you can use it on Giffgaff and Tesco Mobile). Check out our review of the Nokia Lumia 620 smartphone here.

4. The Huawei Ascend P1 is the best smartphone of the lot. It is also the most expensive and the thinnest by far. It is currently on sale at Expansys for £192 (after a £48 discount). For just over £20 extra, you get a much faster processor, more onboard system memory, an 8-megapixel camera and, like the ZTE Grand X above, a 4.3in 960 x 540 pixel display. You can read our review of the Huawei Ascend P1 smartphone here.